advice for london travel+sight seeing
 

hi guys. I am going with my wife to visit London for 5 days in November(didn't get leave in summers)
Currently fully confused between the fancy terms like London pass, London pass plus travel, oyster travel card etc etc. I am new to Europe and going there first time. have booked hotel in zone 1 about 7miles from London eye. please guide me in easy and palatable way that whats the handy and cheapest way for us to travel London plus sight seeing as well.i am going through heathrow airport. thanks a lot in anticipation

Do you have a guidebook yet? Start there and decide what you most want to do/see/experience in London.

In general, taking the tube is the fastest way to travel inside the city. The Oyster card is a stored value card, which makes getting on the tube fast and easy.

Nowhere in Zone 1 is seven miles from the London Eye.

Someone's lying to you or you've got something confused.

Just rule out anything involving the London Pass - it generally isn't worth the expense. Get an Oyster card for the Tube and buses, or search here for threads about the 2-for-1 deals with National Rail train tickets.

Where exactly is your hotel? flanner is right - 7 miles from the Eye + Zone 1 is incompatible. Depending on where your hotel is and how much luggage you have, the Tube from Heathrow might be a good idea (definitely cheapest), or a car service to your hotel.

I agree -- exactly where is your hotel? No part of zone 1 is that far from the Eye,

Also, do not buy the London Pass OR the London Pass plus. REALLY a waste of money.

The Oyster Card is just the regular London transport ticket. That is what you want. You can even buy it at Heathrow and load on it the £ you'll need to travel during your whole stay.

But very first of all - tell us exactly WHERE the hotel is -- the name or the post code.

<< I am going with my wife to visit London for 5 days in November>>

This means don't get the Oyster card. Get the paper 7-day travelcard at a national rail station (Charing X, Euston, Kings X, St Pancras, etc). Go to the manned ticket booth and purchase the travel cards for you and wife - it will be on the same floor as the intercity trains (almost certain to have a Boots pharmacy and M&S Simply Food store), NOT the tube trains.

Before you go to London, go to www.daysoutguide.co.uk and print out every 2for1 voucher that interests you. HUGE savings (Tower, War Rooms, poss. St Paul, Hampton Ct Palace). You should only need Zone 1-2 Travelcard unless your hotel is lying about its location.

Also possible that it is only .7 miles from the Eye? That would comport with Zone 1.

BigRuss is right -- I (purposely) didn't mention the paper travelcard/2for1 discounts because it can be confusing and for some visitors using the Oyster makes things easier. The convenience/simplicity of the Oyster sometimes outweighs the potential savings of the Day Out.

But if you are OK dealing with getting paper travel cards (cannot be purchased at Heathrow) you can save quite a bit.

And the London Pass is crap. What's it going to do, get you admission to places that are already free?

Check it out - these attractions have no admission fee:

Tate Gallery
Tate Modern
Imperial War Museum
National Maritime Museum
British Museum
British Library
V&A Museum
Museum of London
National Gallery
National Portrait Gallery

So that's - what? - 10 of the top 15 Museums in all of London? And the list is not exhaustive.

You really need to provide the specific name/address of your hotel. If located where you said it's at the end of hell and gone. London is a very big city and it's easy to be sucked into places that are in terrible locations and can end up taking you an hour or so to get to the center to see sights (if you need to take both a bus and the tube to get anywhere).

guys thanks a lot.... your replies means alot to me.... my stay will be at 35 Hampton Street, Southwark, London, SE17 3AN
you are right that i am confusing many things....and still confused as these are new things for me....but anyway will search your suggested things on internet and then will come up with more question hopefully(as likely to be more confused then)...:)
again thanks alot......hope you will guide me further as well

and on my first day only i am staying near ealing hospital in a hotel....please also tell how to get to ealing hosp fron heathrow and then on 2nd day how to get from ealing to city centre and my stay at hampton street....thanks

Do you have a good map of London with tube stations and major sights included? While you are not too far from the center you are on the south side of the Thames when most things you will want to see/do are on the north side of the river. Also how far is your hotel from the nearest tube stop - and how many changes will it take to get where you want to go?

I'm not familiar with the area - it says the Elephant and Castle tube - or hotel - but it appears to be very basic.

Assume you got it for a VERY good price and have explored the options of the neighborhood.

<<please also tell how to get to ealing hosp fron heathrow>>

Take the tube from Heathrow to Boston Manor tube station and then bus no 195 to Ealing Hospital, which is more in Southall/Hanwell than Ealing.

<<on 2nd day how to get from ealing to city centre and my stay at hampton street....thanks>>
Not sure what part of Ealing but assuming it's from the hospital, take the bus to Ealing Broadway train station and take the central line tube to Oxford Circus and change to the Bakerloo line to Elephant and Castle, then walk to your address.

This is a useful URL for planning journeys around London.

https://tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey/

I see the source of your initial confusion. This address is a pub that is now calling itself the Hampton Court Palace Hotel, as a play on the fact that it's in Hampton St, but it is nowhere near Hampton Court, the palace outside London (which would indeed be 7 miles out). I see it's also advertising sport on TV in its bar, which suggests it does still operate as a pub for the neighbourhood, and might be quite noisy in the evenings.

The Tripadvisor reviews look very mixed. It's a residential area with mixed social and private housing, a bit downmarket, but with good transport links. A lot depends on your expectations for the price and your tolerance levels, but I'm not sure I'd stay there (and I don't expect luxury or frills).

I'd suggest you look at prices in the Premier Inn or Travelodge chains to see how they compare.

HCP is more than 7 miles out even if you measure it in a straight line, unless it is 7 miles from the edge of zone 1?

Look at some guidebooks -- at the library or at a bookstore. Also research London sights on the Internet. You can start with Fodor's Destinations up on the top left of this page.

Once you get the hotel issue settled and a general idea of what you want to see, look at the walks.com website. They offer a large number of guided walks in and around London as well as day trips out of London. The price is reasonable and you don't need to reserve, just show up at the meeting place.

anniesmith sounds like an ad to me maybe for Trustpilot!!!!!
Trusted fodors people have already disagreed with some of what you say.